Union looking to capitalize on opportunity in D.C.

CHESTER — There’s only so much that the Philadelphia Union want to remember from last Saturday’s game against Toronto FC.

The frustration brought on in equal measures by the referees and the shenanigans of the visitors in a 1-1 draw is something manager John Hackworth wants to forget and move on from.

But the fight shown by the Union to grab an equalizer — and almost a winner — in stoppage time is worth building on as the Union travel to the nation’s capital this weekend to face a struggling D.C. United squad.

Combined with the frustration of leaving points on the table in recent weeks, it’s a recipe for added motivation ahead of an Eastern Conference showdown.

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“We understand that from Columbus and from Toronto, that there were points out there that we should’ve grasped a hold of and taken advantage of and put in our pocket,” captain Brian Carroll said Wednesday at PPL Park. “But we didn’t, and the fact that we went down a goal at home and were able to come back and at least get a tie and have an opportunity for a win even though it wasn’t our best game, is OK. We can take some positives from that, but we know that we have to be on top of our game.”

Once the frustration was put into the past, as it was pretty quickly for most players, some of the lessons were able to come forward and be utilized in training this week. And the most poignant of those is to prevent another missed opportunity.

“We’ve already forgotten about that game,” defender Sheanon Williams. “Obviously there’s nothing we can do. We didn’t play our best and we know that. Now what we can do is work hard in training and get ready for the next game. I think we’ve been working on a lot of stuff that we didn’t do so well that we wanted to do in that game, and hopefully that will show up when we play D.C.”

But of all the possible lessons, the ability for the Union to keep their composure may be the biggest. A match that featured nine yellow cards and one red, plus numerous stoppages of play for phantom injuries by Toronto players that disrupted the flow of the game, tested the resolve of the Union in the quest for an equalizer.

The failures to maintain calm last week will be valuable as they travel to a hostile environment. The same trip last year resulted in seven yellow cards and three reds, one to Williams.

Hackworth was able to use the Toronto game to identify some shortcomings of leadership in his squad; the challenge this week is applying those solutions moving forward.

“There was a couple of incidents against Toronto where I would’ve preferred there be some better leadership out there, not better because I don’t want to criticize Brian or anyone else, but I think there was a place for guys to say, hey look, this is clearly what’s happening in this game, let’s settle down,” Hackworth said. “Let’s not worry about all this b.s. that’s going on. You can’t control the officials; you can’t control the antics. Not our problem, let’s focus on us. And we’ve talked about it already. Every guy in that locker room I think feels the same way.”

NOTES: The Union have no lingering injury concerns for this weekend. Defender Matt Kassel, who was sidelined with a knee injury, has returned to partial training. Hackworth expects him to be training fully by week’s end. … The Union announced Wednesday that they will be traveling to Harrisburg to meet feeder club Harrisburg City Islanders in a June 18 friendly. The match will be the fourth time they’ve met in midseason friendlies. The club, which serves as the Union’s reserve team, features recent draft picks like Don Anding and former squad players Greg Jordan, Christian Hernandez and Jimmy McLaughlin, a Great Valley product.